Can the Church compete Wonga out of business

Leaving aside the interesting use of 'compete' as a transitive verb (an evolution I'm perfectly happy with, but I know people whom I imagine will be frothing at the gills). I have two or three reactions to this. The first is that it is great that the church is being led from the front into something that aims to tackle a manifest evil. Another reaction of alarm because my other reaction is to doubt that it is possible (I'm not sure that I'm supposed to admit to doubt -but there it is ;) ). Here's what's going on:

 The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned the online lender Wonga that the Church of England plans to force it out of business - by competing against it.The Most Rev Justin Welby told Wonga boss Errol Damelin the Church planned to do this by expanding credit unions as an alternative to payday lenders.The plan is to create "credit unions that are... engaged in their communities", he said. BBC News - Church plans to 'compete' Wonga out of business:

So, can it be done? and why would I doubt it?
I'll start with the cause of my alarm. You see, I have experience of credit unions. I support them and would encourage the initiatives to make them a fuller part of the fabric of our collective life. They are a good thing. But (you knew there was a 'but' coming, right?) there is a sense in which it isn't competition. The credit unions I know about -and I think it's standard practice- need for their members to have deposited money with them and to have waited for a few months before they can apply for a loan. By my reading of the matter, this won't help a lot of people for whom saving will be an issue and it won't help in the matter of crisis loans which I suspect are the big issue precipitating a slide into chronic debilitating indebtedness.

So my alarm is that I'm not sure that CUs can help many of the people that need the help. That said, it may be that they can begin to do two things: one would be to mop up people who aren't in the direst of straights but are aware of their precarity and can begin to invest; the other would be to be helping to create a culture which supports more prudence and greater solidarity.

So can it be done? I'm not (yet) convinced. But what gives me pause is that Justin is a finance guy; he probably knows something I don't. I hope to see more detail in time. I've not yet seen anything about the clergy Credit Union which I think he's counting on to help kick-start things.